Senior receiver Jordy Nelson stole the show for the Kansas State Wildcats with a remarkable one-handed catch, a record-setting day and a 92-yard punt return for a touchdown as the Wildcats cruised to a 51-13 victory over the Baylor Bears at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

"I can't repeat what I said. It's not appropriate. I was probably a little bit out of line. But I wanted them to understand how I felt about our performance in the first half." -- Kansas State coach Ron Prince on his message to the team as it entered the locker room with a 16-6 lead at the half

76 Receiving yards by Jordy Nelson in 2007, passing Darnell McDonald (75 in 1998) for the most ever in a single season.

22Completions by Josh Freeman, giving him 209 to move past Chad May (1994) for the most ever in a single season.

Play of the gamePlay of the game? This could be play of the year for the Wildcats in the How'd-He-Do-It category. The Homecoming theme was "Magic in Manhattan." Jordy Nelson mystified even himself in making a freak one-handed catch that will accompany his jaunt into K-State lore. Of course, it'll be the catch people talk about for years ala Kevin Lockett versus Colorado many years ago.

K-State hadn't converted a third down (0-for-9) in the first half. Nelson changed that during the Wildcats' first drive in the third quarter. Facing third-and-7 at the K-State 23-yard line, Josh Freeman fired a pass across the middle. Nelson somehow grabbed the ball with his left hand -- the point of the ball looked to stick against his gloved palm -- pulled it tight against his body and turned upfield against Nick Moore and ]db]Jordan Lake[/db] for a 31-yard gain.

"I don't know how that worked," said Nelson, who had eight catches for 105 yards and one touchdown. "I was hoping it would stick to the glove enough. It got us a first down and was big in the game."

Yes, the reception resulted in a first down, but was so much more.

Defining momentThis one didn't take a moment. It took exactly 30 seconds. That was the time between third-quarter touchdowns for the Wildcats, who turned a 23-6 lead into an all-out route at 37-6 behind a pair of Freeman scoring strikes - a 40-yarder to Daniel Gonzalez with 5:44 left and a 6-yarder to Nelson with 5:14 to go. K-State, which didn't take advantage of three Baylor turnovers in the first half, didn't sabotage itself during this stretch as Reggie Walker sacked Blake Szymanski for 10 yards, forced a fumble and defensive end Clayton Cox recovered the ball at the Baylor 11 to set-up Nelson's touchdown catch two plays later. The Wildcats blew it open. Finally.

"We started out slow," said Gonzalez, who had seven catches for 104 yards -- both career highs -- and one touchdown. "We knew we had to come out in the second half and get something going."

Injury reportWR Lamark Brown (unspecified) walked to the locker room with 6:26 left in the first quarter and did not return. DE Ian Campbell appeared to tweak an ankle early in the third quarter, but returned on the next possession. WR Deon Murphy (left hip) was helped to the sideline with 12:23 remaining and later went to the locker room and did not return. CB Byron Garvin (unspecified) did not play after suffering an injury at Oklahoma State. C Jordan Bedore (left arm) did not play. FS Kevin Hollis (unspecified) did not play. CB Joshua Moore and TE Rashaad Norwood (suspension) did not play. OLB Antwon Moore (left leg) is out for the season.

Key performers

WR Jordy Nelson (2,224 receiving yards) needs just 176 receiving yards to pass Aaron Lockett (1998-01) for third all-time at K-State. Nelson has 16 career receiving touchdowns and needs just three to pass James Terry (2002-03) for third on the K-State all-time list. Nelson has recorded 100-plus receiving yards in five of the last six games. Nelson's 92-yard punt return was the third-longest in school history behind 94 yards (David Allen, 1999; Gerald Neasman, 1997) and 93 yards (Veryl Switzer, 1953; Joe Searles, 1961; Allen, 1998). QB Josh Freeman had 22 completions, giving him 209 this season and passing Chad May (200 in 1994) for most completions in a single season. Freeman has 3,954 career passing yards and needs just 10 to pass Paul Watson (1988-91) for eighth on the all-time list. In tossing a career high-tying three touchdowns, Freeman has now thrown seven touchdowns and one interception in the last 12 quarters. ... DE Clayton Cox had a career-high eight tackles, including two sacks and forced one fumble and recovered one fumble. NT Steven Cline recorded his first career interception. FS Chris Carney recorded his team-leading fourth interception. K Brooks Rossman has made 17 field goals to tie Jeff Snodgrass (2006) and Jamie Rheem (2000) for fourth on the single-season list.

NotesK-State is 6-1 all-time against Baylor and 3-0 in Manhattan. K-State became the fourth team in Big 12 history (Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska) to post 60 league wins. K-State now averages 38.8 points in 2007 and has scored the most points during a four-game stretch (161) in the Prince era, passing 130 during a four-game stretch in 2006. K-State is now 10-1 when it scores at least 30 points under Prince. K-State has scored first in all eight of its games in 2007. K-State is 108-22 when recording at least 350 total yards. K-State last forced at least five turnovers when it forced five at Marshall in 2005 but it remains unknown the last time K-State forced seven turnovers in a single game. K-State posted five sacks for the third time in 2007. K-State has outscored its opponents 89-17 in the first quarter. K-State released single-page postseason honor candidate supplemental material on Nelson, Campbell, Freeman and P Tim Reyer to media prior to kickoff. TE Brett Alstatt carried the Kansas flag and FS Chris Carney carried the American flag onto the field prior to the game.